


Late In The Night

by sugarby



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Bonding, Chocolate, December set, Gen, Other, late-night candy raid, seirenao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-03 23:52:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2892701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarby/pseuds/sugarby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ren's temporary insomnia is befriended by Sei's enthusiasm for late night snacks which also pulls Aoba in too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late In The Night

Ren isn't sleeping. He can't— _won't_ , he supposes.

  
It's hard to close his eyes and find the peace and quiet he needs to sleep when the consequences of watching a new horror game being played are torturing him with disturbed distortions of common items: the sweater draping over the chair becomes a lurking creature, the hung up winter coat with a furry hood becomes the back view of a floating, haunting omen, his own shadow of his hair looks a sinister alternate.

  
And there's something else; in the dark, he can still make out the shape of something not a daily object or clothing.

  
It's moving.

  
Ren watches, captivated but not for positive reasons. The unknown shape stops and Ren can't explain how but he knows it's focused on him now, and he leaps back to the wall, glued to it by the fear that's rushed up and whelmed his cry of distress to mute. He has no where he can run fast enough to, and chances are he'd only trip in the short run of things because his months of rehab still aren't up to par with the several years of mobility he lacks.

  
The shape moves closer, to the edge of the bed, towards him.

  
Ren calms then, because though everything's eclipsed in darkness, he can still make out  _those_  eyes and still see a sparkle of light in them.

  
"Oh." Sei mumbles at being unexpectedly noticed.

  
"Hello." Ren says. He'd hypothesized a reply would convince his heart to stop beating so insanely hard.

  
"So...you're awake."

  
"Yes. G-Good evening..."

_  
Silence._

  
Sei moves again, to hold up a bar of chocolate. The chocolate smudged foil audibly creases in his grasp and, like a child caught with the cookie jar, he sheepishly smiles. "Candy raid." He says, which sums up most of everything for Ren.

  
"I see." nods Ren. "...Is it good?"

  
Sei has to think, bites into the chocolate and chews. "Well, chocolate is always good."  _Of course_ , Ren knows, it's somewhat of an unwritten, common law with the majority of the world. "And I was just gonna go for Aoba's leftover chocolate," he pauses to take another bite, nods and hums in delight at the taste as chocolate melts across his tongue and his sweet tooth deals with the biscuit under layer. "But then I found this and it's pretty good."

  
Well, that's enough to ease Ren into lying his head back down on his pillow. "I'm glad." He smiles, gently, no longer alarmed thanks to the innocent and honest story pushing back the dark hallucinations.

  
"I didn't mean to wake you. I thought I was quiet like a mouse."

  
"No, I was already having trouble sleeping."

  
"Why?"

  
"...."

  
Sei doesn't ask about the silence. In a way, he gets it. He knows it's a new emotion for Ren, who, for a long time, has relied only on the explained fundamentals behind feeling one thing from another. So, naturally, it's bound to be confusing. "Can I get you anything?" He asks, wanting to compensate for his careless steps around the house at such a late hour. "Water, or...some warm milk?"

  
Ren shakes his head. "Thank you, but it isn't necessary—"

  
"I know!" Sei gasps so abruptly he doesn't have time to think to suppress his volume; his exclamation prompts the groan Ren hears come from the bed above them. Sei waits a moment or two to speak again,  _quieter_ , leaning in close whilst he tucks a thick, loose hair strand behind an ear. "How about warm milk  _and Oreos_?" He asks, and Ren can understand the spring of excitement that came earlier; it's still there in the fast, little hurried claps self-praising the suggestion. "Sounds good, right?"

  
"Uh—"

  
"I'll be right back!" Sei leaves on another raid. When he comes back to the bedroom, the load in his arms is more than just chocolate sandwich cookies and milk. Inspecting, Ren wonders what he's unintentionally started here. Tae is sure to notice by morning that the refrigerator is lacking a few treats, if the irregular nightly excitement influencing Sei doesn't cause him to slip up, because he will, won't he? Mice tend to squeak.

  
Ren is amazed. "Sei, this is quite a lot." He tells, identifying the lot that drops in the center of his bed, followed by Sei who climbs on board afterwards and comfortably sits cross-legged.

  
"Nah," Sei disagrees while opening the packet of Oreos, careless again to the sound of creasing foil. "You see how much Aoba eats at dinner, right?"

  
" _Shut up_."

  
Ren looks up to the top bunk and then to Sei, bewildered.

  
Sei looks, surprised as well, then ducks to hide a grin and rifles through the goodies he's brought up. "Okay, what else do you want?" He shines a small flashlight he's also brought over every snack he names as he lines them up on the bed. "Pepero? Doughnuts? Mint candy? Galaxy? Truffles? Fudge? Kit Kat? Chocolate buttons? Iced gems? Animal crackers—no, wait, agh, I think I forgot to bring those."  


Ren smiles, wearily, "No, this is enough."  _And more_ , considering he'd said that he didn't want anything. But he appreciates the selfless gesture, nevertheless. It was done for his sake, to help him sleep. He accepts the carton of milk handed over to him which had been warmed from being underneath the carrier's shirt, and takes the packet of Oreos with the first two already gone; Ren locates the early subtracted cookies resting on crossed legs. "Thank you."  


"This isn't the first time I've snuck out for late night snacks," Sei's happy to admit what his grandmother would scold him for, smiling over an Oreo between his lips. "And It's not the last. You're in on it too now, Ren, so I'll share what I bring with you if you keep this a secret."

  
Ren thinks about how anyone, if not awake, could misinterpret that bargain. It's a short thought before he and Sei are startled by the person in the bed above their heads when they sit up in an instant; their long hair messier than usual and their pink headphones lopsided around their neck as they wear an expression of irritation and daze. 

  
Ren and Sei look up.

  
Aoba leans out from the top to look down at them, literally and figuratively, as he isn't impressed by what they've been up to for the last thirty minutes: disturbing him, being heard over the music that's meant to put him to sleep better than any pill. "Are you two seriously up? It's late." He says, tiredly.

  
Sei smiles, "Good evening to you too."

  
"Aoba, g-good evening." Ren says, but being polite doesn't dampen the guilt he feels. It's bad enough he's sleep deprived, now someone else is and partly because of him—He should've been more insistent on turning Sei away; chocolate and other sweet snacks don't justify any of this inconsiderate involvement.

  
"Yeah, evening." Aoba mumbles. He eyes what he can see of the snacks on Ren's bed, he sees his brother reaching for a Pepero stick— _his_  stash of Pepero sticks. "Ah!" He cries and points at it and his brother. "Hey, those are—Sei, I don't believe it, are those my Pepero sticks?!" He knows they are but thought his brother would at least deny it, rather than just slowly nod and shove two more in his mouth. "Oi, I was saving those! You could've at least asked me first!"

  
"Sorry," Sei shrugs.

  
"Jeez, I thought you stopped sneaking out for candy nights ago? Granny's not gonna be happy about it."

  
"It's fine, just go back to sleep."

  
"Who can sleep with you talking and stuffing your face all night long?!" It slipped out, furious ad-lib that Aoba, at times, fails to stop or at least filter when he feels  
like he's someone else, a more forward part of himself that can get carried away if he's not cautious.

  
"Hey, Ren," Sei says. He throws up a truffle in the air and just luckily catches it in his mouth, chomping on it gratefully—tonight is on his side. "Aoba's like a box of chocolates, isn't he? Because you can't be certain of which type you'll get." He chuckles at his clever, spontaneous joke.

  
"Oh,  _ha ha_." Aoba says, rolling his eyes and sighing. "Let me just get a pen and I'll write down the greatest joke ever. What, did you get that from the back of a cereal box?"

  
"Lighten up." Sei advises in concern. "It's too early to be grumpy."

  
Aoba sighs again into the palm of a hand covering his face. "I don't believe you--Sei, I haven't had coffee yet."

  
Sei can only offer his brother a smile of apology and it's fortunately enough to get him off the hook for now (he had a feeling it would work, to be fair, since Aoba is weak when it comes to pleasing people he's close to). Sei picks up another truffle, caramel this time, and the best part for him isn't just the chocolate melting in his mouth anymore, it's also sucking out the caramel. He avoids Aoba's gaze with a feeling it won't be long before he comments on the noise, and when he happens to look to the window that doesn't have much of a view, he doesn't expect to see what he does. "It's snowing!" He exclaims, already leaping off the bed and rushing over to the window for a closer and better look at white pieces falling down and across.  


Aoba curses and looks to Ren who thinks everything's happening way too fast for him to properly keep up, then they get up from their joined bunks to stand with Sei and admire the same December scene.

  
It's quite magical, Ren thinks. It doesn't snow often in Midorijima—not ever, really, but it's not just that. It's the three of being together, seeing the snow together, experiencing what'll be a nice, warm memory later at the same time, in the same place. They're like that for some time; they watch the snow, enjoy each other's company, and think about how it's late and they should sleep but they don't mind being the only ones awake on Midorijima.

  
Sei inhales and shivers into holding himself; cold. "I want hot chocolate." Ren was wondering if watching the snowfall would be the end to the late night confectionery raid.

  
"No, Sei," says Aoba. "Granny's gonna have a fit if she finds out!"

  
"Last thing, I promise." Sei swears, pressing a hand to his chest over his heart before he makes his final trip downstairs.

  
Aoba shakes his head at him. "He's crazy. Right, Ren?" He asks the only other sane person besides himself. He trusts Ren enough to confide in him—not that speaking bad of his brother is a routine. But Ren usually offers his own input and that's usually what helps to mark a clear path and give Aoba the right answer.

  
Ren looks to the open door where Sei just left through, "It is unusual."

  
They stand there and listen out for Sei. They hear him flick on the light downstairs in the kitchen, and they also hear what Sei must not have, the door to Tae's room downstairs sliding over. Aoba and Ren mutually tense up a little as they ride on the suspense of what'll happen next.

  
"Sei?"   


"Shit." Aoba carelessly mumbles and gets worried glances from Ren.

 _  
"Ah, gran!"_  Sei says over the clatter of something he's accidentally knocked over in surprise. _"W-What are you doing up? It's late, please go back to bed."_

 _  
"I can say the same thing to you! All night, I've listened to you go up and down the stairs. What do you think you're playing at?!"_ Tae questions, exasperated.

 _  
"Sorry! I thought I was quiet those times...I was just_ — _"_

_  
"Going straight back to bed, right?"_

_  
"Well, I was going to make hot chocolate-!"_

_  
"There'll be time in the morning to make that nonsense. For now, go back upstairs and go to sleep, Sei."_

_  
"But gran-"_

_  
"You deaf as well as noisy?!"_

  
Aoba and Ren flinch at the snappy rhetorical question. But it was to be expected, Aoba had warned his brother. The stairs creak as Sei ascends them, his eagerness and excitement fizzled out and in his arms droopy at his side in disappointment.

  
"Uh...." Ren isn't sure what to say but feels one of them has to say something to make things less weird.

  
"...Ta-dah!" Sei lights up again as he presents another bar of chocolate from behind his back. Aoba and Ren stare, speechless. They don't know how Sei does it, and they don't think they'll ever really understand how someone who's been in the hospital for most of their life runs on all this energy. It's quite the phenomenon, but nonetheless, it's alright if it exists because Sei's happy, so they're happy too.

  
'Course, Aoba will be happier to sleep. "Alright, if his highness is done for the night then I'm going to sleep. Goodnight." He waves to them and is on his way, climbing back up to his bed at the top, slipping on his headphones and turning over to sleep to the melody of one of his favourite bands' ballads.

  
"Night!" Sei waves back and jumps in to his own, single bed across the room, though he lies there and keeps eating his chocolate, not going to sleep until he's eaten enough chocolate to give him the sweetest of dreams for a couple nights more since his candy raid will be on hold for a while. Shame, really. It's more fun to do with Ren, or Aoba.  _But half the fun is the risk of being caught,_  Sei smiles to himself. "Sweet dreams!" He says.

  
"Ah, thank you. Goodnight to you both." Ren tucks himself into his bed at the bottom, and gratefully appreciates that just like this he  _can_  sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own earmuffs with panda faces on both sides, and where it's placed in my wardrobe, it's like it's directly staring at me while I sleep. That, and little joke reference to a seiao oneshot in my 'Variety Box' collection is where what you've just read (if you did) comes from.
> 
> It's like making something out of nothing(--ah, the unlocked secrets to writing! lol). Nah, just--it's something sweet for the end of the holidays, I guess. And unlike Sei, I'm practically out of chocolate--the ones I like anyway. But you know, eating chocolate (or cheese) can encourage you to have nightmares. True story, because I ate chocolate not long before bed for three days and I had nightmares for three straight nights. 
> 
> I feel like the timing of this little seirenao project is right too after seeing _[this](http://ssubby.tumblr.com/post/106429665075)._ ).
> 
> Happy holidays!

**Author's Note:**

> I own earmuffs with panda faces on both sides, and where it's placed in my wardrobe, it's like it's directly staring at me while I sleep. That, and little joke reference to a seiao oneshot in my 'Variety Box' collection is where what you've just read (if you did) comes from.
> 
> It's like making something out of nothing (ah, the unlocked secrets to writing! lol). Nah, it's something sweet for the end of the holidays, I guess. And unlike Sei, I'm practically out of chocolate (the ones I like, anyway) But you know, eating chocolate (or cheese) can encourage you to have nightmares. True story, because I ate chocolate not long before bed for three days and I had nightmares for three straight nights. 
> 
> I feel like the timing of this little seirenao project is right too after seeing _[this](http://ssubby.tumblr.com/post/106429665075)._ ).
> 
> Happy holidays! ^^


End file.
